February 3, 2015

The Honorable Jackie Speier

United States House of Representatives
2465 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Speier:
As organizations committed to protecting and improving womens health and rights, we
write in support of the Access to Contraception for Women Servicemembers and
Dependents Act of 2015. This bill ensures that all servicemembers and their dependents
who rely on the military for health care have comprehensive contraceptive coverage and
family planning counseling.
Women play a vital role in the U.S. military and currently constitute 16 percent of all
active duty and reserve members of the military.i This bill would ensure that
confidential, comprehensive, and medically accurate family-planning counseling
becomes a guaranteed health service for servicewomen, and is offered by medical
providers that have the most up-to-date, evidenced-based information regarding the full
range of contraceptive methods available.
Ninety-seven percent of servicewomen are of reproductive ageii and studies suggest that
servicemembers could benefit from receiving comprehensive family planning
counseling.iii Additionally, servicewomen deployed overseas are often stationed in
environments with unique challenges that require additional considerations in choosing
the best contraception method. Meeting the needs of servicewomens reproductivehealth care is critical to ensure military readiness and mission accomplishment.
Unintended pregnancy can be prevented through medically accurate education and
family planning counseling. This bill would guarantee that such counseling is available
at various points in a servicewomans career, including during predeployment and
deployment health-care visits, giving women the tools necessary to make informed
decisions on whether, and when, to have a child.
Further, this bill requires TRICARE to offer insurance coverage of all FDA-approved
methods of contraception with no cost-sharing. With this provision, the nearly 5 million
women eligible for Department of Defense- based health insuranceiv will have the same
birth control coverage as federal employees and those who rely on private insurance
coverage. Currently, active duty military have no cost-sharing for any prescriptions,

although non-active duty military and dependents must pay cost-sharing for birth
control acquired outside a Military Treatment Facility (MTF).
This bill would also make available at MTFs a range of FDA-approved contraceptive
methods, providing a critical health service to the high number 41 percent of
deployed servicewomen who have difficulty obtaining a refill for their ideal
contraception method.v
Additionally, the bill would require the creation of a uniform standard curriculum that
will be used in family planning education programs across the Services to ensure that all
servicemembers have the information they need to make informed decisions regarding
family planning.
Finally, this bill improves servicewomens access to emergency contraception (EC) in
two ways: first by codifying Department of Defense regulations that health-care
providers at MTFs provide survivors of sexual assault with information regarding
emergency contraception. Second, the bill requires MTFs to offer a sexual assault
survivor EC upon her request.
We believe it is the duty of our military to provide the highest quality health care to all
servicemembers and military dependents, women included, and therefore strongly
support the Access to Contraception for Women Servicemembers and Dependents Act
of 2015.
Thank you,
Advocates for Youth
American Association of University Women (AAUW)
American Civil Liberties Union
American Society for Reproductive Medicine
Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP)
Catholics for Choice
Center for American Progress
Center for Reproductive Rights
Hadassah, The Womens Zionist Organization of America, Inc.
Ibis Reproductive Health
Institute for Science and Human Values, Inc.
NARAL Pro-Choice America
National Abortion Federation
National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Council of Jewish Women
National Family Planning & Health Association

National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health

National Organization for Women
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Women's Health Network
National Women's Law Center
People For the American Way
Physicians for Reproductive Health
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Population Connection Action Fund
Population Institute
Reproductive Health Technologies Project
Service Women's Action Network
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS)
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy
UltraViolet
Union for Reform Judaism
Women of Reform Judaism

U.S. Department of Defense, 2012 Demographics: Profile of the Military Community, 10 (2012)
http://www.militaryonesource.mil/12038/MOS/Reports/2012_Demographics_Report.pdf.
i

Grindlay K, et. al., Abortion Restrictions in the U.S. Military: Voices from Women Deployed Overseas,
21 Women Health Issues, 259, 259 (2011).
ii

Ruth Manski, et. al., Reproductive Health Access Among Deployed Servicewomen: A Qualitative
Study, 179 Military Medicine, 645, 651 (2014).
iii

U.S. Department of Defense, Evaluation of the TRICARE Program: Fiscal Year 2014 Report to
Congress 14 (2014).
iv

Kate Grindlay and Daniel Grossman, Contraception Access and Use Among US Servicewomen
During Deployment, 87 Contraception 162, 166 (2013).
v